Yesterday was a hoot. An earthquake of 5.8 magnitude hit Virginia and affected much of the East Coast and parts of the Midwest. Watching Fox News Channel, people were absolutely ridiculous. One bunch of New Yorkers and/or tourists were even huddled in the shade of a bridge! Helloooo. The Mayor of NYC held a massive press conference during which he revealed that a chimney collapsed in the Bronx or Brooklyn. A commentator said afterwards that a chimney collapses once a day in the Bronx/Brooklyn! But the point was made that we are not as prepared as we should be for disasters, natural or man-made. Once again the Heritage Foundation is on top of it. We have become so addicted to FEMA responding to every local disaster that I am surprised they did not roll out on that chimney in NYC! But the result is that FEMA is overtaxed and local communities have let their disaster response abilities atrophy because the Feds are riding to the rescue:
"The federalization of routine disasters requires FEMA to become involved with a new disaster somewhere in the United States every 2.5 days. This high operational tempo is affecting FEMA’s overall preparedness because it keeps FEMA perpetually in a response mode, leaving little time and few resources for catastrophic preparedness. With staffing levels and budgets only nominally above pre-1993 levels, it should be no surprise that FEMA is not prepared to handle a catastrophic disaster."
For a more complete analysis go here:
http://links.heritage.org/hostedemail/email.htm?h=9720214f3b976eaaba6a290c29404d4d&CID=9659783352&ch=3161171295B5B88AEC262FB972C05FAB
And remember the Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared!
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